Author Topic: Custom graphics driver for FF7/FF8 [v0.8b] (Read 70531 times)

Ansem · « **Reply #25 on:** 2014-01-06 16:36:45 »

It would appear that my crappy laptop doesn't support these shaders... Is there any workaround to disable them anymore? The game won't start up anymore if it can't load the shaders, effectively preventing me from playing.

And another question. If this issue eventually kicks me back to v.0.7.11b, can the vgmstream plugin be loaded with it?

Aali · « **Reply #26 on:** 2014-01-06 18:56:54 »

Sorry, you need shaders for 0.8b, supporting opengl 1.4 just isn't worth it anymore. You can try updating your graphics drivers, opengl 2.0 is almost 10 years old at this point so anything newer than that should technically be able to support it.

The vgmstream plugin will almost definitely crash with 0.7.11b.

Vehek · « **Reply #27 on:** 2014-01-06 21:03:11 »

Is opengl 2.0 support by itself really enough? My laptop says it supports opengl 2.0, but I get a 'failed to load shaders' too.

Code: [Select]

INFO: FF7/FF8 OpenGL driver version 0.8b
INFO: Auto-detected version: FF8 1.2 US English (Nvidia)
INFO: Intel Intel 965/963 Graphics Media Accelerator 2.0.0 - Build 7.15.10.1666
INFO: OpenGL 2.0 support detected
INFO: PBO not supported
INFO: Found swap_control extension
INFO: Max texture size: 2048x2048
INFO: Original resolution 640x480, window size 960x720, output resolution 960x720, internal resolution 1280x960
INFO: Shader limits: varying 41, vert uniform 512, frag uniform 1024
INFO: vertex shader compile log:
ERROR: 0:1: '' :  Version number not supported by GL2

INFO: fragment shader compile log:
ERROR: 0:1: '' :  Version number not supported by GL2

ERROR: failed to load shaders

~~I don't know if it's related, but running a test in a GPU caps viewer showed that I lacked GL_EXT_gpu_shader4.~~ My system probably only supports a tiny fraction of the opengl 2.0 extensions.

Edit: Replaced log, as it was from the old shaders

Aali · « **Reply #28 on:** 2014-01-06 22:49:51 »

I guess GLSL 1.20 is technically OpenGL 2.1. I wonder if I can get rid of that, don't remember why I needed GLSL 1.20 in the first place.

EDIT: Nope, can't find any good reason for that, just change it to #version 110, that should let you load them.

Kranmer · « **Reply #29 on:** 2014-01-06 23:17:01 »

Quote from: Aali on 2014-01-06 14:25:47

I changed it to not accept input if the window doesn't have focus, that might be causing issues with the controller support, I will look into it.

OK thanks Aali, the controller works fine in FF7 just not in FF8, I have been playing FF8 for a short while now trying to get used to the keyboard in the mean time and got to the world map and noticed a few very small glitches, made a video here
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qj3Otr1A_Qo
As i leave the town you can see the town itself is a little fuzzy and as you move so do the lines and a little around the outside of the forest, this isn't a big problem and the game itself seems to be working great so far. I tried changing settings on in the CFG and on my graphics driver config but nothing seems to make any difference.
Anyway Good work and thanks for this new version, such a big improvement from the last version.

Aali · « **Reply #30 on:** 2014-01-06 23:44:41 »

That little bit of Z fighting is unavoidable for now and to be honest is probably never going to be fixed. Its just a side-effect of the crappy port.

Alkor · « **Reply #31 on:** 2014-01-07 13:37:09 »

can i ask some. Will it work on ff8 steam?

Ansem · « **Reply #32 on:** 2014-01-07 18:36:40 »

Quote from: Aali on 2014-01-06 22:49:51

just change it to #version 110, that should let you load them.

Yep, that solved the issue. Thanks Aali!

Mcindus · « **Reply #33 on:** 2014-01-08 07:25:30 »

Quote from: DLPB on 2014-01-06 12:05:06

Latest Raw is compatible. Go to thread. It also doesn't crash... it simply told you it couldn't be used. You need to download the new raw.dll.

You are absolutely right! I didn't know the latest update did anything other than make it compatible with the steam version -- I will download it right now, considering RaW and AH are really what make these games worth playing again. Thanks DLPB!

Also -- Thank you so much Aali, I've been happily living in re-vamped nostalgia

Are there any file paths for the ff8 mods folder other than 'menu'?
I have a few .lzs files that i've converted into PNG's that I'd like to insert into the game... is that possible? (i.e., new squaresoft logo, high res production credits, touched up b&w slideshow shots, etc.)
Also -- I have all of the TIM's converted to PNG's from the ff8.exe for the card game and I'm making them hi-res, but how would I get them back into the game? I suppose it would be some modpath issue like for the SeeD mod, but I can't seem to find the answers in the forum.... I'm also an artist and a newb to modding.

EQ2Alyza · « **Reply #34 on:** 2014-01-08 08:09:41 »

Glad you're asking these questions Mcindus. We need the FF8 modding community to grow. Whether you start with an artist or a programmer, publicity eventually gets them together to make magic happen

DLPB_ · « **Reply #35 on:** 2014-01-08 09:14:44 »

Bug report:

1. The FMV are playing too bright. They used to remain darker, and roughly same brightness as the surrounding background... now they are way over. This has to be related to the issue before? The one where the shaders needed tweaking to account for the full range 0-255?

2. The Music is not obeying stops when an FMV starts. It carries on through them. Take the bombing of Midgar- the music is supposed to cut out as the bomb goes off, but now it just plays on.

3. Wrong FMV playing at end of game. I was at the centre of the planet where you jump down the ledges... from that point on, all FMV were the wrong ones.

LosBadylos · « **Reply #36 on:** 2014-01-08 17:42:33 »

Any idea why I'm getting errors like:
"UNEXPECTED: zero count" and "ERROR: couldn't lock sound buffer"
The game seems to work okay, but those errors are worrying, what do they mean?

DLPB_ · « **Reply #37 on:** 2014-01-08 17:54:26 »

The first one I also get and Aali has explained it is due to a bad model. The model may appear perfect to you but the person who made it left garbage that shouldn't be there. It is often totally benign since you won't notice ANY problem with the model itself in game a lot of the time.

Aali · « **Reply #38 on:** 2014-01-08 18:46:28 »

Geez Dan, I told you I don't know why there's garbage in the model, way to bag on the modelers

LosBadylos:
That sound buffer error doesn't look too good, do you still hear the music and FMV audio? Any pattern to when it happens?

DLPB_ · « **Reply #39 on:** 2014-01-08 18:58:25 »

Oh, well, I interpreted it that way.

Never mind.

LosBadylos · « **Reply #40 on:** 2014-01-08 19:08:41 »

My setup is Steam version converted with FFVII game converter and of coruse your newest custom driver. I just ran the game to test it out, so I can't tell too much about the pattern. Sound buffer error seems to show up after and/or during FMV's (Cloud looking at Mako Reactor, intro etc.) but audio seems to work alright. Also, UNEXPECTED: zero count error makes the game stutter for a second when it appears, and it also does so during FMV's, for example when Cloud looks at the Mako Reactor at the beginning or during the game intro (but it's probably irrelevant since you and DLPB already explained what's going on with this error)

Kaldarasha · « **Reply #41 on:** 2014-01-08 19:17:37 »

Is it possible to add a fake fullscreen mode? In window mode the vsync works perfectly with my nvidia card. I find a program which removes the borders of the window.
http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2675769
It is also possible to remove the black border at the bottom with it by using a higher Y-resolution as the monitor has.

It would help to destretch the the game when playing with 'preserve_aspect = no', BUT every menu has to be rescaled and must move up or it will be chopped.
However it seems necessary to not use the native resolution of the monitor or the tearing appears again.

Quote from: LosBadylos on 2014-01-08 17:42:33

Any idea why I'm getting errors like:
"UNEXPECTED: zero count" and "ERROR: couldn't lock sound buffer"
The game seems to work okay, but those errors are worrying, what do they mean?

If you use my models then it's my fault. For example I have used for Barrett parts which have an uv map, but I killed and disabled the texture and painted simply the faces. The problem seems to be that the game is still searching for a texture, but it simply finds no destination. On field it is mostly harmless, but on battle it can have a bad effect to the model. I have learned from my mistakes and clean a model part with p-creator before I recolor it in kimera. Anyway it has no bad side effects at the moment.

But I got a problem when using Knigths of the round:

Code: [Select]

deffered draw queue overflowThe summon is a bit glitched after this.

LosBadylos · « **Reply #42 on:** 2014-01-08 21:42:34 »

Well, I'm not sure what is happening anymore, in addition to my previous problem with sound buffer error I mentioned earlier, the game plays bombing mission .ogg during first boss fight, no idea if those are related:0

DLPB_ · « **Reply #43 on:** 2014-01-08 21:47:30 »

Bombing mission is supposed to play during first boss fight. It always has, even on PSX.

Aali · « **Reply #44 on:** 2014-01-08 21:59:15 »

Quote from: Kaldarasha

Is it possible to add a fake fullscreen mode? In window mode the vsync works perfectly with my nvidia card. I find a program which removes the borders of the window.
http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2675769

With OpenGL there isn't really such a thing as a fake fullscreen mode or even a real fullscreen mode for that matter, your only option is a borderless window. If you leave window_size_x/y at 0 it won't touch your display settings at all, there's no reason why vsync would work in window mode and not in this configuration.

Quote from: Kaldarasha

But I got a problem when using Knigths of the round:
Code: [Select]
deffered draw queue overflowThe summon is a bit glitched after this.

Known problem and already fixed.

LosBadylos · « **Reply #45 on:** 2014-01-08 22:17:39 »

Quote from: DLPB on 2014-01-08 21:47:30

Bombing mission is supposed to play during first boss fight. It always has, even on PSX.

Well, way to make an idiot out of myself >_>
I was sure that this is the first time when boss theme kicks in, but it looks like my memory has failed me.

Aali, I don't want to bother you, but do you have any idea why I'm getting those sound buffer errors?

Aali · « **Reply #46 on:** 2014-01-08 22:26:18 »

I don't have anything yet, could you post your ff7_opengl.cfg file, an app.log where this happens and a dxdiag?

Kranmer · « **Reply #47 on:** 2014-01-08 23:02:23 »

The sound buffer error has been discussed on this forum before (can't find the old topic right now but i know it exists). At the time the conclusion was that the 2012 FFVII video's used a video format and container which wasn't fully compatible with Aali's driver and that caused the error, if you convert the video into a different format the errors do go away, i believe there was even a FFMPEG script posted on the forum somewhere which converted the video's for you to remove the problem. I will try to locate the original thread if i can and edit this post if i find it.

EDIT1- Found 1 of the threads where it was discussed
http://forums.qhimm.com/index.php?topic=14502.msg203473#msg203473

LosBadylos · « **Reply #48 on:** 2014-01-08 23:22:20 »

Yeah, this is it! Big thanks to you and the rest for helping me out, I already solved this problem thanks to the hints in the topic you posted.

cmh175 · « **Reply #49 on:** 2014-01-09 21:15:45 »

My main problems when trying the new driver were the games resolution and that it wasn't saving settings in bootloader anymore, and the game was asking for me to insert a disk so it wasn't recognizing the mounted drive. I rolled back to the last version and everything returned back to normal. I originally just pasted the files into my current game folder and ran the registry changes. Would this work better when added to a fresh installation after a bootleg conversion of the 2012 re-release?